Ok...I've been reading the message boards to see if anyone has described what my fingers look like. I wish you could post a photo along with your thread, LOL.

I've been biting my nails for at least 15 years. But really it's not so much nail biting as it is skin biting. I pick at my cuticles and the skin around and on top of my finger...some fingers to that first joint (gross i know). The skin usually bleeds cause I go to deep and forms scabs... So then I pick at the scabs. So basically, the area on each side of my nails AND the top of my finger by the cuticle is red and puffy all the time. Like a bump on each finger. My boyfriend says they look like calluses. I have been able to grow long pretty nails many times. It is the skin all around the nail that I can't stop chewing and that is what I want to make better! I always feel so ashamed of my hands. I try and keep them hidden but sometimes I talk with my hands and only realize it when I see the face of the person I'm talking to. Their eyes dart to my hands and I catch them STARING. Probably in disgust. How can I stop doing this AND, what can I use to make my fingers look normal? Cuticle oil? PLEASE HELP....ANYONE...

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08-20-2009, 05:20 AM

#2

Marti

Senior Veteran

(female)

Join Date: Nov 2000

Location: Rosenberg, TX.

Posts: 2,600

Re: Ugly red skin at cuticles

You may very well have an infection in the skin from keeping them moist all the time. Please go see a dermatologist for a proper diagnosis and possible prescription.